Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.59 miles, 2,979 feet, 3 hours 25 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge -rock step - High Sweden Bridge - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule Pub - Ambleside. Sunshine, blue sky, and high mainly fluffy clouds. No precipitation; a cold wind from the west. Terrain frozen hard, with extensive ice sheets on the drainage areas in Scandale. Grip good as long as the ice was avoided. No new snow on the tops. Very few walkers about; 3 runners seen.

Despite double gloves my hands got quite cold on Red Screes - should have worn my mittens.

[Mike T]

10.66 miles, 2,876 feet, 3 hours 37 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Fishgarths and Deerbolts Woods, Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, Grasmere shore, Loughrigg Terrace, and the race descent to the road at High close - but not in that order! Initially sunshine, blue sky, and high clouds; later rain/snow clouds moved in from the west. There was fresh snow from overnight on Coniston, Wetherlam, Swirl How, the Crinkles and Bowfell, but nothing new on Fairfield initially, though as I descended past the old golf club I could see snow had fallen there whilst I was out. I had a few minutes of drizzle; there was a moderate ly strong cold breeze from the west. Terrain: there had been a heavy frost, and many of the paths were white; there was lots of black ice, even on the pavements in the town. Very slippery in places. Quite a few walkers on the fell; 4 runners seen.

[Mike T]

7.01 miles, 1,607 feet, 2 hours 34 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, and Loughrigg top. Overcast, with cloud/mist almost down to the valley floor. Constant drizze/light rain. A moderate wind from the south west. Terrain: an inch or so of wet snow in the valley; six inches or so at the top of Loughrigg. Very slippery, even with microspikes. Very few walkers about; 1 runner seen - in the valley.

I certainly needed my best all over waterproofs, double socks, double gloves, and microspikes today - worst conditions for a long time.

[Mike T]

15.32 miles, 3,957 feet, 4 hours 53 minutes: Wansfell Pike from High Skelghyll, descending via Blue Hill Woods, and doing the High Skelghyll Low Wood loop a couple of times, as well as descending Mirk Lane and ascending Wain Lane. Overcast and murky, the cloud base was indistinct - sometimes I could see the outlines of the Langdale Pikes, Wetherlam and Coniston, sometimes I couldn't. A strengthening wind from the south west; a few minutes of drizzle. Terrain saturated/streaming - puddles and rivulets everywhere. Traction surprisingly good - compared to yesterday it was heaven. Not many walkers about; 4 runners seen - in the valley.

I should add that almost all of yesterday's snow has vanished. The only snow I saw was a shovelful or two next to the wall near the top of the Pike. None of the high fells had any visible snow on them.

[mr brightside]

I've started up my 'training program' again; that thing that never gets adhered to due to racing and my packed injury schedule...

Training.jpg

It's currently a 2 week rolling program based on this somewhat optimistic 4 week summer schedule. Only 2 bike rides to work a week, not 3 as that irritates my right knee, and i'm getting rid of the down week. I was running fine without the addition of a slow recovery week, and slow running just means worse muscle recruitment for me. No midweek offroad sessions, just going with quarter mile hill reps and 450m flat raps. I'm going to have to try and stay away from races for a bit and just stabilise my back problems, might aim for High Cup Nick next year. NOT doing the winter league series, but might do an odd race.

[Travs]

Assuming the tuesday club night is a decent session..... thats three sessions a week on minimal mileage....

Its a hell of a lot of fast work.

[Mike T]

11.65 miles, 3,531 feet, 3 hours 50 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Fishgarths and Deerbolts Woods, Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, down the race route to the road at High Close, and back up to the top from Grasmere shore via Loughrigg Terrace and the steps overlooking Grasmere. Mainly overcast, with lots of high fluffy clouds. A few brief periods of sunshine/blue sky. No rain. A very strong blustery wind from the west. Terrain anything from dry to wet/saturated/streaming; slippery in places, though the Mudtalons did an excellent job as usual. Not many walkers about; 5 runners seen.

No visible snow anywhere today.

[mr brightside]

Assuming the tuesday club night is a decent session..... thats three sessions a week on minimal mileage....

Its a hell of a lot of fast work.

Green is easy, red is hard. The tuesday club session is an easy 5-7 miler. As far as i can remember i was running quite well when i was following this pattern, you have to build into it though.

[Mike T]

12.82 miles, 3.029 feet, 3 hours 59 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending from High Skelghyll, descending via Blue Hill Woods, and taking in Stagshaw Gardens; Skelghyll, Holbeck, Mirk and Wain Lanes; and Low Wood. Lots of sunshine and blue sky, some fluffy clouds mainly above the high tops, a few brief showers. No significant wind. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming and slippery in places. Not many walkers about; the car parks were almost empty. Only 1 runner seen.

[Mike T]

12.51 miles, 3,598 feet, 4 hours 40 minutes: Rothay Bridge in Ambleside to Silver How and back, going to Loughrigg top both ways, and taking in Todd Crag and Lily Tarn on the way out. Sunshine, blue sky, and high fluffy clouds; some thicker lower clouds moved in as the day progressed. No rain. A moderately strong wind from the north west. Terrain frosty/crunchy and slippery in places. At least it was not frozen hard. Not many walkers about; 1 runner seen.